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Re: SV102EDT #4

Rich: My congrats also on getting this rare gem. As far as a mount is concerned, the M4 will work but I highly recommend a wood tripod as this will greatly

Message 1 of 15
, Mar 1 7:21 AM

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Rich:

My congrats also on getting this rare gem. As far as a mount is
concerned, the M4 will work but I highly recommend a wood tripod as
this will greatly increase stability. I have some of the older
versions of the Stablelock tripod in house including a demo and I
can let you have one at half price. That would do it if you are
happy with the M4. The Unistar Light would be a bit light for this
but again, with a wood tripod it may get you by. The standard
Unistar would be better.

Angela is right about the Discmount or the M6 as being great heavy
duty alt az alternatives that would be more than enough. As far as
the Sky Commander, this can be added instead of the NGC Max.
Whatever you prefer. I second the suggestion for the GP as a good eq
mount for this.

Finally, we are making two new mounts. We just cannot leave well
enough alone. We are making an M1 and M2 mount. The M1 will be like
the M3 but will have internal dsc's along with locks on both axis.
It is not designed for the EDT but for our 80mm class telescopes.
The M2 is its big brother, designed for 102 - 115 telescopes. It
will also have external tension adjustments for both axis, provision
for internal DSC's and the initial plan includes slow motion
controls. This will be an extremely smooth mount. These are a few
months off, but I wanted to make you aware of what is coming. We
will not publish any info on these until they are just about
finished. We are still testing damping times, smooothness, etc. We
want these to be unique, smooth and stable.

>
> Congrats on winning the scope!!! I'm so happy it is going to a good
> home.
>
> If it were me, I would get an alt-az mount with digital setting
> circles (dsc). I find that combo the best fun! At hidden lakes

two

> years ago, we used the #4 on a unistar with JMI dsc and I was

hooked

> forever. Recently at the winter star party we had the SV115 on the
> DiscMount with the SkyCommander dsc and I really loved that setup.
> Even Vic found it great fun. Also, there is the Stellarvue M6 with
> dsc. If SV makes them with the Sky Commander dsc, I would go that

way

> over the JMI dsc.
>
> If you are set on an eq mount, David had a Vixen GP mount at the
> winter star party and it looked really well made. If you are

"...an interim strategy may be to use
your current Unistar Light and upgrade the tripod if necessary. That
way you could upgrade the mount itself in the future -- either with
the proposed SV mount or a Unistar if the USL proves too light."

As always, Jim C. has offered some very good advice. I'll add that you can
also have Larry at Universal Astronomics upgrade your existing USL with
DSC's. The 102EDT deserves the sturdiest mount you can put under it so go for the
best you can afford. I'll be looking forward to your first light post.

Clear, dark skies,

Jim S.
Redlands, CA

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Mark Stafforini

Rich, Welcome to the world of EDT owners. I still get a kick out of the ohs and awhs I get at star parties when people look through the scope, and then the

Message 3 of 15
, Mar 1 12:06 PM

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Rich,

Welcome to the world of EDT owners. I still get a kick out of the "ohs
and awhs" I get at star parties when people look through the scope,
and then the incredulous looks from APO owners when I tell them it's
an achromat!

I use both a Unistar light on an aluminum surveyor tripod, with extra
weights on the tripod to stabalize it. It works fine for most viewing,
though I use an older Super Polaris EQ with motor drive and wooden
legs for higher power viewing of the planets.

Good luck, and have fun.

Mark Stafforini

> >
> > Hi all:
> > I'm posting to continue the story of 102EDT #4. The lucky buyer of
> > this scope turned out to be me. Needless to say, I'm thrilled--can't
> > wait for my first chance to take it outside!
> >
> > As a relatively new member of the SV group, I also wanted to note
> > that the comments from Vic and Jim and others here about the history
> > and capabilities of the EDT were really valuable in helping me to
> > make up my mind quickly.
> >
> > I'm wondering if other EDT owners have mount recommendations for this
> > scope. I have an M4 EQ and a Unistar Light for my AT1010, and the
> > EDT would seem to be within their capability, but perhaps I should be
> > thinking of an upgrade to something heavier duty for the EDT? Right
> > now my use will be visual. Astrophotography will be an interest for
> > sometime in the future. I'd appreciate any suggestions from others'
> > experience.
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Rich
> > Philadelphia, PA
> > AT1010 and (soon)
> > SV102EDT #4

k5apl

Congratulations on acquiring your fine EDT. It will give you many hours of pleasure. My EDT has been mounted on a LXD-55 mount with GoTo. But, its now on a

Message 4 of 15
, Mar 1 12:21 PM

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Congratulations on acquiring your fine EDT. It will give you many
hours of pleasure.

My EDT has been mounted on a LXD-55 mount with GoTo. But, its now
on a Giro-2 alt-az with JMI DSCs. This is great grab-and-go, and
stable enough for high power.

I would recommend getting the largest mount that you can afford....
the one's Vic mentioned sound interesting. Nothing frustrates me
more than having a great optic on a shaky mount.

Hi all- I d just like to thank everyone for all the comments and help on my mount question. I ll probably try the Unistar Light with the tripod upgrade

Message 5 of 15
, Mar 1 6:26 PM

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Hi all-

I'd just like to thank everyone for all the comments and help on my
mount question. I'll probably try the Unistar Light with the tripod
upgrade temporarily... but sounds like the best decision is a mount
upgrade, so that's what I'll be working on.

In any case I'll need to free up the Unistar Light for use with the
Nighthawk, because my son already thinks that set-up should now be
his! ;-)

Cheers,
Rich
AT1010
SV102EDT #4 (soon)

star_hopper2002

Rich, I m a little late but as I mentioned before, the M4/Stablelock tripod is a pretty stable system and is easy enough to use the scope as a grab and go

Message 6 of 15
, Mar 1 9:22 PM

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Rich,

I'm a little late but as I mentioned before, the M4/Stablelock tripod
is a pretty stable system and is easy enough to use the scope as a
grab and go arrangement. I think it's also one of the most cost
effective mount combinations and will allow planetary viewing at high
magnification.

The Stableglide, Super Polaris and GM8 options are definitely a plus
but represent more of an investment.

In upgrading your mount, don't lose sight of the fact that the day may
come when you may upgrade to a large and heavier APO.

Congratulations on your purchase. The EDT is one scope which will
never go out of style.

--- In Stellarvue@yahoogroups.com, "pa_rambler" <pa_rambler@y...> wrote:
>
> Hi all-
>
> I'd just like to thank everyone for all the comments and help on my
> mount question. I'll probably try the Unistar Light with the tripod
> upgrade temporarily... but sounds like the best decision is a mount
> upgrade, so that's what I'll be working on.
>
> In any case I'll need to free up the Unistar Light for use with the
> Nighthawk, because my son already thinks that set-up should now be
> his! ;-)
>
> Cheers,
> Rich
> AT1010
> SV102EDT #4 (soon)

Jim Carpenter

Renato, It s interesting to see the way the EDTs make their way around the family here. Your #6 was the first EDT that I ever saw, when Alan Erickson and I

Message 7 of 15
, Mar 2 7:03 AM

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Renato,

It's interesting to see the way the EDTs make their way around the
family here. Your #6 was the first EDT that I ever saw, when Alan
Erickson and I got together one night south of Denver to do a comparo
with my G-5 SCT. I later viewed through Al Klayton's EDT at RMSS
three or four years ago, and ended up buying #34 from Ricky Richey
when he upgraded to a 102apo. Now Rich is getting Angela's #4. I
haven't seen the buyer of George's #16 pop up here yet, but he
probably will one of these days.

>
> Rich,
>
> I'm a little late but as I mentioned before, the M4/Stablelock tripod
> is a pretty stable system and is easy enough to use the scope as a
> grab and go arrangement. I think it's also one of the most cost
> effective mount combinations and will allow planetary viewing at high
> magnification.
>
> The Stableglide, Super Polaris and GM8 options are definitely a plus
> but represent more of an investment.
>
> In upgrading your mount, don't lose sight of the fact that the day may
> come when you may upgrade to a large and heavier APO.
>
> Congratulations on your purchase. The EDT is one scope which will
> never go out of style.
>
> Clear Skies,
> Renato
> EDT SN#6
> (formerely owned by Alan Erickson & Bob Savage)
>
> --- In Stellarvue@yahoogroups.com, "pa_rambler" <pa_rambler@y...> wrote:
> >
> > Hi all-
> >
> > I'd just like to thank everyone for all the comments and help on my
> > mount question. I'll probably try the Unistar Light with the tripod
> > upgrade temporarily... but sounds like the best decision is a mount
> > upgrade, so that's what I'll be working on.
> >
> > In any case I'll need to free up the Unistar Light for use with the
> > Nighthawk, because my son already thinks that set-up should now be
> > his! ;-)
> >
> > Cheers,
> > Rich
> > AT1010
> > SV102EDT #4 (soon)

k75jim@aol.com

In a message dated 3/1/2005 6:38:56 PM Pacific Standard Time, pa_rambler@yahoo.com writes: In any case I ll need to free up the Unistar Light for use with